Subject: Employee and Organizational Development

Responsible Office: Office of Human Capital Management

1. POLICY

a. NASA's policy is to support the full utilization of the workforce in
achieving the Agency's strategic outcomes and managing its human capital.
In doing so, NASA will:

(1) Make training and developmental opportunities widely available to
employees to enhance individual and organizational capabilities and
competencies in accordance with Merit System Principles,
5 U.S.C. § 2301 (b)(7).

(7) Use formal training and educational experiences to complement work
experiences and to improve organizational and individual performance.

(8) Retain compliance with all Federally mandated and Agency and Center
required training.

2. APPLICABILITY

a. This NPD is applicable to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers,
including Component Facilities and Technical and Service Support Centers.

b. This NPD does not apply to the Office of the Inspector General (IG),
which has independent authority pertaining to the management of IG human
resources management under 5 U.S.C. Appendix (Public Law 95-452).

4. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS AND FORMS

d. Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, 5
C.F.R. Part 2635.

5. RESPONSIBILITY

a. The Administrator retains the authority to:

(1) Establish policy for employee and organizational development programs
and activities.

(2) Manage the Senior Executive Service (SES), Senior Technical (ST), and
Senior Leader (SL) cadres, including their developmental assignments
exceeding 120 days, details, and Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA)
assignments. Authority is otherwise decentralized and delegated to
operating organizational levels, so that decisions are made by officials
knowledgeable of competencies required to accomplish functions of the
Agency.

b. Except where retained by the Administrator, the following officials
shall have the authority in Employee and Organizational Development
programs and activities:

(1) The Associate Administrator for the Mission Support Directorate, the
NASA Center Directors, and the Executive Director for Headquarters
Operations shall be responsible for providing leadership, direction, and
resources to ensure that required employee and organizational development
activities support the Agency's near and long-term needs.

c. The Assistant Administrator for Human Capital Management shall:

(1) Be responsible and accountable for providing overall executive
leadership and strategic policy direction for the Agency's technical,
functional, leadership, and organizational training and development
programs.

(2) Serve as the Chair of the Training and Development Advisory Council.
Duties of the Chair may be delegated.

(3) Grant a waiver of the Agency's right to recover a full or partial
repayment from an employee who fails to fulfill the terms of the
continued service agreement for training costs in excess of $25,000 for
corporate sponsored and funded courses (e.g., NASA Fellowships and Senior
Executive Candidate Development Programs).

d. Center Directors, the Executive Director for Headquarters Operations,
and the Executive Director of the NSSC shall:

(1) Grant a waiver of the Agency's right to recover full or partial
repayment from an employee who fails to fulfill the terms of the
continued service agreement. A full or partial waiver shall be based on
the written documentation of circumstances that demonstrate that the
recovery of repayment would be against equity and good conscience or the
public interest. Costs equal to or in excess of $10,000 may be delegated
to one organizational level below the Center Director. Costs less than
$10,000 may be delegated further.

(2) Establish procedures for recovery of training costs for courses that
are not successfully completed by their employees. Procedures will
include a process for consideration of full or partial waivers of
training costs in circumstances where recovery of repayment would be
against equity and good conscience or the public interest.

(3) Manage their respective Center's resources for training and
development in accordance with financial accounting requirements. They
are accountable for adhering to the policies and guidelines set forth by
the Office of Human Capital Management for ensuring that training and
developmental activities are funded, fully supported, and conducted.

(4) Budget for and use training and development resources to improve
organizational and individual performance, including allowing the use of
funds to pay for an academic education, credentials, and licenses.

e. The Agency Office of Human Capital Management shall:

(1) Be responsible for oversight of NASA's training, leadership, and
organizational development programs and activities consistent with
training requirements in 5 C.F.R. Part 410 and the Standards of Ethical
Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, 5 C.F.R. Part 2635.

(3) Permit the use of foreign-owned training organizations for NASA
employees only when it is fully justified by a requirement that cannot be
met by domestically owned organizations or when there is a distinct
advantage to the Agency.

(4) Approve the use of appropriated or other available funds to select
and assign an employee to academic education if the education is part of
an Agency employee development program or process that is linked to
accomplishing the strategic goals of the Agency, contributes
significantly to meeting an identified Agency training need or resolves a
staffing problem and is provided by a college or university that is
accredited by a nationally recognized body.

(5) Approve the use of appropriated funds or funds otherwise available to
pay for expenses for employees to obtain professional credentials,
including expenses for professional accreditation, State-imposed and
professional licenses, professional certification, and examinations to
obtain such credentials. This authority may not be exercised on behalf of
any employee occupying or seeking to qualify for appointment to any
position that is excepted from the competitive service because of the
confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating
character of the position, e.g., Schedule C appointments.

(6) Serve as the Executive Secretary for the Training and Development
Advisory Council (TDAC) and Executive Secretary of the NASA Executive
Resources Board, which oversees and coordinates the SES system for
executive development.

f. The Agency OHCM Training Officer shall:

(1) Support employee training, retraining, mentoring, coaching, and
organizational development activities leading to better ways of
delivering services, improving work performance, and increasing the value
of employee contributions to current and future Agency missions.

(2) Be responsible for the functional management of NASA's training and
development programs and activities, which includes the design,
development, and implementation of the Agency's training and leadership
programs.

(3) Establish policy and programs to provide new supervisors at least 40
hours of supervisory and management training within six months of their
assignment, 80 hours within the first two years, and continuous
supervisory training to all supervisors at least once every three years
in accordance with 5 C.F.R. Part 412.

(4) Establish policy and programs for advanced training for all
supervisors and managers as needed and continual development and training
for Senior Executives.

(5) Conduct a biannual review of Center training and development plans to
ensure that the Agency is efficiently developing and utilizing training
and associated budgets.

(7) With the authorization of the cognizant contracting officer or
Contracting Officer Technical Representative, permit NASA contractor
personnel to attend authorized and scheduled NASA training, provided that
space is available and such attendance does not deny civil service
employees the training. The training must be necessary for Government
purposes.

(8) Require employees selected for training in excess of 80 consecutive
hours to complete a continued service agreement. The employee shall agree
to continue in the service of the Federal Government after the end of the
training period for a period equal to at least three times the length of
the training/development.

(9) Develop and administer the Agency training and development policy,
annual Agency training and leadership development budget, review Center's
biannual training and development plans and Agency-level training plans,
makes recommendations to the Agency OHCM, and serve on the TDAC in an ex
officio capacity.

(10) Be responsible for the overall management and oversight of the
Agency's academic education programs, processes, and activities.

(11) Make every effort to negotiate discounted tuition rates with
universities for civil service employees that take academic courses paid
by NASA.

(12) Establish the Agency's position on the payment of college credits
for life or work experience and the criteria for such payment.

(13) Require employees to submit transcripts for academic education
through official correspondence with academic institutions to document
successful course completion.

(1) Be responsible for developing and implementing employee and
organizational development programs at the operating organizational
levels.

(2) Be responsible to Center Directors for providing technical advice and
human resource development functional support to their Center managers
and for providing training plans, as required, to the Office of Human
Capital Management for purposes of Agency program planning and evaluation.

(1) Be required to obtain a signed continued service agreement in both
Center and Agency-wide training or developmental programs in excess of 80
consecutive hours. Requests for waivers shall be handled as set forth by
this NPD and implementing directives.

(2) Assess all academic education requests to ensure that employees
obtain academic education only through established academic training
programs and processes.

(3) Establish an annual cap for academic education and establish a formal
process for consideration of exceptions.

i. All managers and supervisors jointly share with their subordinates the
responsibility and accountability for their development and training.
Managers and supervisors determine the job-related knowledge, skills, and
competencies that employees need to effectively accomplish the
organization's work. They are also jointly responsible with their
subordinates for assessing current capabilities, determining near and
long-term development and training to enhance employee performance, and
preparing Individual Development Plans (IDP) that support job
requirements to include timely completion of supervisory and management
training, career goals, and Agency needs.

j. Mission Support Organizations and Disciplines shall be responsible for
providing direction for satisfying legislative, regulatory, and/or
administratively mandated training associated with their functional
responsibility. They develop requirements for the resources to respond to
these mandates and to provide technical guidance for the design,
development, and delivery of training activities in support of their
functional requirements.

k. The Associate Administrator for International and Interagency
Relations shall be responsible for reviewing all requests for foreign
training as tasked by OHCM, including developmental work assignments,
confirming the eligibility of any proposed training facility with the
Department of State, and determining whether the training is compatible
with current foreign policy objectives.

6. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. Chapter 41, the Administrator hereby delegates to
the specified officials mentioned above the authority to fulfill the
duties set forth in section 5. Responsibility.

7. MEASUREMENT/VERIFICATION

a. The Agency OHCM will monitor NASA-wide metrics on training and
development activities that contribute to the achievement of Agency human
capital goals, as described in NASA's Strategic Plan. OHCM will conduct
periodic compliance reviews that include a review of recovery payment
waivers.

b. All Center training offices and the Headquarters training office will
regularly monitor evaluation data from training courses. Training offices
are encouraged to use a wide range of training and development measures,
including the number of supervisors completing required training within
the targeted timeframe, the number of training instances per NASA
employee, the number and types of training offered, the percentage of
employees receiving training, the number of employees meeting training
goals identified in their respective IDPs, and wherever possible, the
linkages between training and productivity improvement/cost savings.

8. CANCELLATION

/s/ Charlie F. BoldenAdministrator

ATTACHMENT A: (TEXT)

Federally Mandated and Agency Required Training

A.1 As a continuous learning Agency, NASA must ensure the optimal
alignment of training to meet the objectives of the Agency's mission.
Given the size of NASA's workforce, any training requirement poses a
significant organizational cost. A systematic approach to the
establishment of training requirements requires a consistent approval,
implementation, and communication process. In so doing, this ensures that
the investment of employee time and resources to training is maximized.

A.2 OHCM has developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Federally
Mandated Training to provide clarity and structure to the process of
evaluating, developing, and communicating federally mandated training.
This guidance is designed to ensure that mandatory training is
established in accordance with training laws and regulations, including
frequency, duration, and content.

A.3 The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Training Policy Handbook
defines Federally mandated training as "Mandatory training for all
employees Government-wide. This includes training mandated by federal
statute or regulation; such as in the areas of computer security
awareness (Title 5 C.F.R. 930.301-305), ethics (Title 5 C.F.R. 2638.703
and 704), or executives, managerial, and supervisory (Title 5 C.F.R. Part
412)."

A.4 Agency-required training is defined as Agency-specific training
required by the Agency and provided to employees in order to achieve the
goals and objectives of the Agency.

A.5 When a potential training requirement has been identified, OHCM will
ensure that the training requirement has been properly evaluated in
accordance with the SOP. The evaluation process will ensure that
communications define: the training objectives, the target audience
(civil service employees and/or contractors), deadlines, reporting
requirements, instructions for accessing the training, and all other
pertinent information.

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